From The Record archive: Holding on to ray of hope

Billy Collins spent most days on the road, hauling freight from Stockton to Oregon and back, listening to talk radio in the cab of his big rig and meeting up with fellow truckers for meals.

Sundays and Mondays were days to relax with his wife at their Sacramento home, go dancing, surf the Internet or spend time with his two children.

"Being on the road as much as he was, running to Medford and back, by the time he got home, he liked to watch the ball games and get as much rest as he possibly could," said Barbara Collins, his wife of four years.

Like her husband, Barbara Collins worked for Reddaway Truck Line, working night shifts and coming and going at odd hours.

"Our biggest thrill (was) going out in the hot tub at 3 o'clock in the morning by the time we both (got) home," she said.

Six weeks ago, however, their life together came to an abrupt end.

As Billy Collins began a run Dec. 4 on Interstate 5 from Stockton to Medford, someone threw a softball-sized chunk of concrete through Collins' windshield.

The debris hit him directly in the face, crushing his skull and causing him to lose control of the big rig, which flipped on its side just south of the Country Club Boulevard exit in Stockton.

California Highway Patrol spokesman Burt Riisager said the impact of the concrete caused major trauma to Collins' brain, which began to swell and eventually sent him into a coma. He has remained there ever since.

Cared for at San Joaquin General Hospital until Jan. 5, Collins, 49, was transferred to a long-term care facility in Folsom, closer to Collins' home.

Barbara Collins, who spent most of December at her husband's side, knows the odds are against his ever recovering, even if he comes out of the coma.

"I've talked to many, many doctors, and most of them said, 'If he was to wake up right now (from the coma), he'd be a vegetable,'" she said.

But Barbara Collins and her husband's friends hold out hope for a miracle.

"There are a lot of prayers and a lot of people out there wanting him to pull through this thing," said Tom Ferreira, one of Collins' best friends and a truck-driving companion.

Ferreira said Collins was a veteran driver whom a lot of drivers went to for advice on life's up and downs, whether they were trucking matters, health concerns or marital problems.

When Ferreira had a liver transplant more than a year ago, Collins looked out for him, organizing a raffle to raise money for his medical bills.

"He was the one who looked after me the whole time. He made sure I ate right and took my pills," Ferreira said. "He was like my guardian angel."

"He was just a kind-hearted person. Anybody you talked to who knew Billy knew he was that kind of person. We really miss him," he said.

Ferreira said Collins was an avid fan of talk-show host Art Bell, and he kept up on road conditions by listening to his police scanner and talking to others on a cellular telephone.

At times, they would alter their routes when other truckers reported rock-throwing incidents, sometimes switching to Interstate 5 to avoid that hazard on the overpasses on Highway 99, Ferreira said.

After Collins was struck Dec. 4, law enforcement officers began an intensive search for the person who threw the concrete, with trucking companies offering up thousands of dollars for a reward.

On Dec. 17, police arrested a 16-year-old Stockton boy, booking him on a charge of attempted murder.

The youth, whose name is being withheld, is expected in court again Jan. 30, where a judge will decide whether to try him as an adult in the crime.

Barbara Collins said the fact that the person responsible had thrown several concrete chunks and hit several cars before hitting her husband shows the thrower was bent on causing harm.

"The intent was there," she said. "The intent to hurt was there."

For now, Barbara Collins is struggling with the senselessness of a crime that took away a man she described as her best friend for 20 years, and a father who deeply loved his two children from a previous marriage.

But she has had to move on, realizing after a three-week vigil at the hospital that it was time to get back to work and pay the bills.

Just this week, Collins got an urgent call from her husband's care facility, where attendants were concerned about his breathing and advised her to have a relative drive her there at once in case he did not survive.

But he made it through the day and the rest of the week.

With a resolve she's had to muster in a time so suddenly tragic, Barbara Collins is doing her best to carry on.

"You've got to keep the power and the strength," she said. "And just do what you've got to do."

A trust fund has been set up in William Collins' name at the Bank of Stockton.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.